DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND PRESSURE GROUPS IN NIGERIA: AN ASSESSMENT OF #ENDSARS PROTEST

Abstract

In October 2020, Nigeria experienced a nationwide protest tagged: #ENDSARS. These protests were targeted at the government to enforce the end of police brutality, undue harassment and extortion meted against the masses, especially the Nigerian youths. Protests were carried out in some parts of the country, especially the major cities and abroad. Many scholars and commentators believe that these protests were facilitated by social media. The study however, is an attempt to critically examine the impact of #ENDSARS protest on democratic governance. To do this, the study relied on both primary and secondary sources of data, and survey method of analysis was adopted. Descriptive statistics such as simple percentage and frequency table were used to provide answers to the research question, the research hypotheses were tested using the chi-square statistical tool. The study employed the dissatisfaction theory. The population of the study comprises of three hundred and seventy (370) out of four hundred (400) that were used in the research work. The research discovered that #ENDSARS protests do not posed any serious threat to democracy in Nigeria. The findings of the study revealed that the right to protest should not be limited, Nigeria citizens should be allowed to protest against government policies that are not people oriented, political protest is necessary for the growth of democracy in Nigeria. The study concludes that with the increasing trend of protests globally, the citizens would continue to put pressure on government to address public issues. The study recommends that having realized the strength of protest wthin the context of social media activism, government of Nigeria must now seek ways to address pre-existing social factors such as poverty, unemployment, hunger and other social ills that motivated anti-government social movements in the country whether offline or online.